A planned visit by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to Baghdad on Thursday has been called off, officials told AFP. "No visit to Iraq is planned on the president's schedule," senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said without elaborating.

Earlier, the official Palestinian radio announced that Abbas would head to Baghdad for a one-day visit in what would have been the first visit by a Palestinian leader to Iraq since Saddam Hussein's regime was ousted in 2003. According to that report, Abbas was to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to "discuss bilateral ties and ways to strengthen them."